Friday, September 09, 2005

Friday...

Last night a bitch went to my favorite shelter for our regular life-skills class. There were new mothers this time…young beautiful women with wisdom behind their eyes.

After the class this bitch went to visit the babies. There was a newborn, just one-week old, and a bitch nestled her into my arms and sat down in the rocking chair...heart to heart, her tiny head rested against my shoulder. My eyes closed and this bitch began to weep.

This small new life and all of the possibilities held within it humbled me.

A bitch opened my eyes and looked into the wise young eyes of the infant’s mother. She smiled and ran her palm over her baby’s soft damp hair.

A bitch knows that this is going to be hard. We are in the middle of a crisis and a tragedy. A certain someone sent me an e-mail about a huge drama unfolding at the Armory in D.C. – soldiers with weapons intimidating evacuees, children without parents left to fend for themselves and a huge lack of mental health professionals to deal with the inevitable mental health crisis that will arise from this drama.

If you are a trained mental health professional, please contact the local agencies that are providing for evacuees and offer your assistance. If you are in the D.C. area, see if you can’t scoot down to the Armory and add a dash of humanity to this exercise in governmental bullshit. Be persistant…your fellow Americans need you now.

Moving forward...A bitch would like to thank my friend in vodka AbsolutBilly for donating tons of shampoo and soap! Your donation will help Katrina survivors, Nurses for Newborns and the women of Haven of Grace. Go on with your bad self!

A bitch is exhausted and there is so much more to be done.Scooter has called for a national day of prayer on September 16. A bitch is calling for a national decade of service. Pray if you want to, but a bitch plans to act too...

A bitch could rant about the FEMA director’s bullshit resume, the fuck-up over the debit cards or the stupid posturing going on in D.C. But this bitch is going to leave that for another day.

A brief southern exploration…A bitch was born in Minnesota…in February, which might be why my ass is so bitchy. But my people come from the south. My mother’s family is from Mississippi and my father’s people settled in Virginia. A bitch is closer to my mother’s family and that Mississippi sensibility that survived their northern migration to Pennsylvania after WWII.

Mississippi is alive in my memories of my grandmother. Her spotless home and her ability to stretch a holiday turkey on for days. Grandma O.T. always had something sweet in the house and was quick to tell your ass to mind when you stepped out of line. A bitch thought her a queen…majestic and elegant and tough as nails.

My ass was fascinated with her “ways”…like never leave the house without a face of make-up on and never walk into church looking shabby. Grandma O.T. was a sight to see on her way to church. My fondest memory of her was one fine Sunday when she emerged from her bedroom smelling of White Shoulders. Her head was held high and she knew she looked good. She wore a jewel blue ensemble with a matching hat and new shoes. Her jewelry was coordinated and her new wig was fluffed to maximum curl amplification. As she walked out the door my ass finally took a breath. Lawd, what a beautiful black woman! What power and pride and sass!

That’s Mississippi…grace and dignity and the ability to keep it real. Mississippi is wealth and poverty, dignity and a tragic past. It’s pride and honor coupled with sadness and shame. Mississippi will stretch that holiday turkey to last five days and feed ten people. She’ll weather the storm and emerge looking like a queen bedecked in brilliant blue…majestic, elegant and tough as nails.

A bitch is holding my breath and waiting to see what emerges from the devastation.

17 comments:

Ah, ABB, you stir memories of my own grandmother today. Two of my mother's sisters are Catholic nuns. Years ago, someone willed a camp in Waveland, Mississippi to their order in New Orleans. Each nun could take their family to the camp for one weekend a year. We had two nuns so we got to go twice.

I have so many memories of spending summer weekends with 15 or 20 members of my mother's family, including my beloved grandmother, at St. Adele Villa on the Mississippi shore. Inevitably, we would walk the couple of miles along the beach into Bay St. Louis and look at all the homes along the way. We would drive to Gulfport to play at the water park or to Biloxi to eat dinner. But most of the time was spent at the end of the warf fishing or diving.

It saddens me to know that Waveland and Bay St. Louis are completely gone now, including St. Stanislaus church where we were allowed to attend in shorts because it was a beach community. I look at the reports and wonder how many pieces my heart can truly shatter into.

You've touched this Mississippi woman's heart and made her cry. You words make me proud to be from Mississippi - and even more homesick if that were possible. Thank you for this loving tribute to your grandmother and her homeland.

And may that little baby you held and rocked have a life that will make the world proud and that will touch the lives of others in a wonderful way.

Say it bitch say it, oh yeah your doing a great job! This white bitch loves your bad ass bitch blog because you don't mess around you just say it like it is! I may be white but I've "felt the heat" many times..and I hear ya! All those talking heads in the white house and tv where are they going to be a few months from now? And what are they going to say? I wonder are they just trying to make themselves look good right now for ego and advertisement? The revolution will not be televised! Like you said independent investigation about Clinton's fooling around but man in "white" house now doesn't seem to have to take any kind of personal responsibility for anything he does or doesn't do, or screws up..whats with the press kissing his sorry ass all the time so sick of it?!!its on his dime!..he's the talking head he's "the man" with "Charisma" (so who cares that doesn't make a good president but we niave people seem to think it does!)he's the head "honcho man in power" and I'm sick to death of him either sitting back not taking proper action when needed, or jumping right in without thinking about consequences later on, like another country with war so there can be "democracy" there? OH but is that why he really wanted to go to war there? NOOOOO!..but now look at us and have we got any democracy here? if your born rich and never been underprivileged or descriminated against much you are NOT going to "GET IT"!..oooh!..oh lord I pray for this "white ass man" to get the hell out of that "white" house and go live on the street somewhere for a while..sorry but maybe it would do him and his "white ass self" some good to "Experience the lesson"! Thanks for your contribution to making the world a better place black bitch you go!

what a breath of fresh air. your post truly moved me today. your will, courage and action inspire. today i am in seattle, visiting my sister and nephew. to wake up with my family near, reminds me of what strength lies beneath. thank you for volunteering your time. words hold weight, but your actions speak volumes over the chatter.

I see I put my "rambling comments" in the wrong post...I meant for it to be in response to the post below this...this is embarassing..my apologies everyone! I'm still rather new at blogging and got a bit confuse when the post is the very top at first?

It all comes down to two things:1. The US Gov has no respect for blacks and sees us as people who drain the system 2. Blacks ned to gain economic and legal power.Those of us who have risen need to go back and help others rise. We must turn this situation areound in this country. How dare Barbara Bush make the comments she made how dare Bill O'Reilly blame the victims. How dare the FOX network try to spin lies into truth. I am fed up with the US and the hate mongers who run it.

Hey, ABB...I'm heading down to Salvador, Brazil where I'll be living for a while...got to get away from Bushlandia for a while...I'll be in-transit for about 3 weeks but when I get to Salvador I'll be back reading your blog....take care and see you soon! Sangroncito